Sports is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refers to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determiner of the outcome (winning or losing), but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports and motor sports where mental acuity or equipment quality are major factors. Sports are used as entertainment for the player and the viewer. It has also been proven by experiments that daily exercise increases mental strength and power to study.
Technology is playing an important role in sports, whether applied to an athlete's health, the athlete's technique, equipment's characteristics or even ensuring a fair game. For example, a system referred to as “instant replay” has been implemented in several sports (e.g., football, hockey, college football, basketball, tennis, rugby, etc.) where plays in a sporting match can be reviewed (or replayed) using recorded video feeds of the sporting match in order to ensure that the correct call is made on the play. However, instant replay is usually limited to being used in certain situations. For example, goals in hockey can only be reviewed in the following situations: puck crossing the goal line completely; puck in the net prior to the end of the period; puck in the net prior to goal frame being dislodged; puck being directed into the net by hand or foot; puck in the net after deflecting directly off an official; and puck deflected into the goal by the high stick by an attacking player. Hence, many calls are still subject to human error. Further, even with instant replay, mistakes may still occur as usually a referee, a replay judge, etc., can only overturn a call if the call is clearly in error. Hence, a call may be incorrect but if there is not enough evidence to show the call to be clearly incorrect, the call will stand.
Recently, a synthetic turf system used on a game field has been developed that includes blades of polyethylene grass blended with light-emitting fibers with the capability of reflecting light upwards. The fiber-optical laden blades are supposed to have the same look, feel and durability as non-illuminated blades. This system is commonly being referred to as “Turf TV” as the fiber-optical blades can be used to display team logos and even commercial viewing.
As technology continues to play an important role in sports, it would be desirable if this fiber optic field technology could be used to ensure the game is even more fair and accurate than under the current system of instant replay thereby enhancing the experience of the game.